Golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body

ABSTRACT

A golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body comprises a front body, a rear body and at least one supporting member. The front body comprises a face and a plurality of abutting edges. The rear body comprises a crown, a ribbon and a plurality of abutting edges, with the rear body being made of a nonmetal material having a specific gravity lower than that of the front body, and the abutting edges of the rear body being corresponding to and connecting with those of the front body. The at least one supporting member being made of a light alloy is disposed along a border between the crown and the ribbon of the rear body.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a golf club head having a strength-enhanced rear body; and particularly, to a rear body receiving at least one supporting member, with the rear body being combined with a front body to form a golf club head and the rear body being made of engineering plastic, so as to enhance the structural strength of the golf club head.

2. Description of the Related Art

A conventional golf club head with a strength-enhanced member, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,672,975, entitled “Golf Club Head”, includes a body made of a light metal having a density lower than 4.5 g/cm³ or a nonmetal such as polycarbonate, a striking plate, and a supporting frame. The body comprises an opening disposed at the front side of the body for engaging with the striking plate correspondingly, a neck hole for connecting to a shaft, and a plurality of engaging grooves arranged on an outer surface of the body. Furthermore, dispositions of the engaging grooves are corresponding to the shape of the supporting frame, so as to receive the supporting frame thereby and combine it with the body.

The supporting frame is shaped by a plurality of enhancing ribs, with each enhancing rib providing a thread hole at an end thereof. A plurality of through holes are provided in the striking plate at positions adjacent to edges of the striking plate, such that a plurality of screws can pass through the through holes and fix to the thread holes of the enhancing ribs respectively while the engaging grooves receive the supporting frame. Consequently, the striking plate is engaged with and covers the opening of the body, so as to form a golf club head. Through said structure of the conventional golf club head, the supporting frame can enhance the structural strength of the body to increase the longevity of the golf club head no matter what material is applied to make the body.

Nevertheless, said conventional golf club head has several drawbacks. In order to reduce the total weight of the golf club head, a selected light material is used to form the body and the supporting frame is applied to enhance the structural strength of the body; however, the processes to form the engaging grooves on the outer surface of the body for receiving the supporting frame is complex. And because the engagement between the striking plate and the supporting frame is merely provided by the screws and thread holes, the reliability of the combination between the body, the striking plate, and the supporting frame is low. Furthermore, owing to the light material applied to form the body, a weight difference between a sole portion and a crown portion of the body is absent, which leads to a high center-of-gravity position of said conventional golf club head. Hence, there is a need for an improvement over the conventional golf club head with a strength-enhanced member.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The primary objective of this invention is to provide a golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body, which comprises a rear body receiving at least one supporting member, with the rear body being made of engineering plastic and being combined with a front body to jointly form a golf club head. Accordingly, a total weight of the present golf club head is low while the structural strength thereof is enhanced.

The secondary objective of this invention is to provide the golf club head having a strength-enhanced rear body with organic short fibers contained in the engineering plastic making the rear body. Accordingly, the structural strength of the rear body is further enhanced, and the longevity of the golf club head is increased.

The golf club head in accordance with an aspect of the present invention includes a front body, a rear body and at least one supporting member. The front body comprises a face and a plurality of abutting edges. The rear body comprises a crown, a ribbon and a plurality of abutting edges, with the rear body being made of a nonmetal material having a specific gravity lower than that of the front body, and the abutting edges of the rear body being corresponding to and connecting with those of the front body. The at least one supporting member being made of a light alloy is disposed along a border between the crown and the ribbon of the rear body.

In a separate aspect of the present invention, the nonmetal material is selected from either a crystalline engineering plastic or an amorphous engineering plastic.

In a further separate aspect of the present invention, the rear body comprises a rear sole, with the rear body forming the crown, the ribbon and the rear sole integrally by injection molding and receiving the at least one supporting member.

In a yet further separate aspect of the present invention, the supporting member comprises a rib extending across the crown from the ribbon to the face of the front body and being disposed within the crown of the rear body.

In a yet further separate aspect of the present invention, the face, the sidewall and the neck are integrally formed by casting, and the front body further comprises a front sole connecting to a sole portion of the sidewall by welding.

In a yet further separate aspect of the present invention, a weight member is provided on an inner surface of the front sole and away from the face of the rear body.

Further scope of the applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view illustrating the golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view, taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2, illustrating the golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view illustrating a golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is preferably a wood-type club head. Referring initially to FIG. 1, an exploded perspective view of a golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, which is a wood-type club head. The golf club head includes a front body 1, a rear body 2, and a supporting member 3, with the supporting member 3 being received in the rear body 2 and the rear body 2 combining with the front body 1 to jointly form the golf club head. The front body 1 is made of a material selected from a group consisting of carbon steel, stainless steel (e.g. 17-4 PH stainless steel), alloy steel, Fe—Mn—Al alloy, nickel-based ferroalloy, cast iron, super alloy steel, aluminum alloy, magnesium alloy, copper alloy, titanium alloy or mixtures thereof. The rear body 2 is formed by a nonmetal material with low specific gravity, which is lower than that of the front body 1, and the nonmetal material is preferably an engineering plastic such as a crystalline engineering plastic or an amorphous engineering plastic. Said engineering plastic is selected from a group consisting of polyphenylene sulfide ether (PPS), polyetherimide (PEI), polycarbonate (PC), polypropylene (PP), acrylonitrile-butadience styrene plastics (ABS), polyfounoldehyde resinpolyox mothylene resin (POM), nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 12, polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polypheylene oxide (M-PPO), polybothlene terephthalate (PBT), polysulfone (PSF), polyether sulfone (PES), polyether ether ketone (PEEK) or mixtures thereof. Besides, during forming the rear body 2, organic short fibers, such as fiberglass, carbon fiber, or metallic fiber, can be added into the engineering plastic, so as to enhance the structural strength of the rear body 2.

Constructions of the front body 1 of the first embodiment shall be described in detail, by referring to FIG. 1 through FIG. 3. The front body 1 includes a face 11, a sidewall 12, a front sole 13, a neck 14, a sidewall engaging portion 15 and a front sole engaging portion 15′. The face 11 is disposed at the front side of the front body 1 for striking a golf ball (not illustrated). By bending a perimeter of the face 11, the sidewall 12 is formed and extends in a direction away from the face 11. Preferably, the face 11, sidewall 12 and neck 14 are integrally formed by casting, and the front sole 13 connects to a sole portion of the sidewall 12 by tradition welding, such as argon welding, or high energy welding, such as laser welding, electron beam welding or plasma welding. The neck 14 is arranged at a side of a crown portion of the sidewall 12 for connecting to a shaft (not illustrated). The sidewall engaging portion 15 and a front sole engaging portion 15′ respectively extend from edges of the sidewall 12 and the front sole 13, so as to engage with the rear body 2. Moreover, a sidewall abutting edge 121 is arranged along a border between the sidewall 12 and the sidewall engaging portion 15 while a front sole abutting edge 131 is arranged along a border between the front sole 13 and the front sole engaging portion 15′.

Referring again to the FIGS. 1 through 3, the rear body 2 of the present invention including a crown 21, a ribbon 22 and a rear sole 23. The rear body 2 forms said crown 21, ribbon 22 and rear sole 23 integrally by injection molding when the rear body 2 is made of the engineering plastic. The supporting member 3 is partially received in the rear body 2 and is disposed along a border between the crown 21 and the ribbon 22, such that a part of the supporting member 3 emerges from an outer surface of the rear body 2. The shape of the supporting member 3 corresponds to those of the crown 21 and the ribbon 22, which is preferably in an arc-shape, so as to smoothly connect between the crown 21 and the ribbon 22. Furthermore, a crown abutting edge 211, a ribbon abutting edge 221 and a rear sole abutting edge 231 are respectively arranged along ends of the crown 21, the ribbon 22 and the rear sole 23.

A weight member 4 is provided on an inner surface of the golf club head; preferably, said weight member 4 is formed on an inner surface of the front sole 13 by welding, and the position where the weight member 4 located is away from the face 11. The weight member 4 is made of a material with a higher specific gravity than that of the front body 1, such as tungsten, plumbum, or mixtures thereof.

In assembly, the crown abutting edge 211 and the ribbon abutting edge 221 of the rear body 2 connect to the sidewall abutting edge 121 of the front body 1; and the rear sole abutting edge 231 of the rear body 2 connects to the front sole abutting edge 131 of the front body 1. Besides, a periphery of an inner surface of the rear body 2 is firmly engaged with the sidewall engaging portion 15 and the front sole engaging portion 15′ of the front body 1. An adhesive such as epoxy resin, acrylic resin, polyurethane resin, neoprene rubber or elastic resin is applied to adhere the rear body 2 to the sidewall and front sole engaging portions 15, 15′, so as to make the golf club head of the present invention.

The supporting member 3 disposed between the crown 21 and the ribbon 22 can be made of a light alloy, such as aluminum alloy, magnesium alloy, or titanium alloy, so that the structural strength of the rear body 2 is enhanced to prevent the golf club head from deformation or damage. And a surface treatment process and an appearance treatment process are applied to at least the emerged part of the supporting member 3 to provide a resistance to corrosion and beautify the appearance of the golf club head. The surface treatment process is preferably anodizing treatment or surface coating treatment.

Please referring to the FIGS. 1 through 3 again, owing to the materials made the rear body 2 and the weight member 4, that is to say, the specific gravity of the material made the rear body 2 is lower than that of the material made the front body 1 while the specific gravity of the material made the weight member 4 is largely higher than that of the material made the front body 1, the weigh member 4 can substantially adjust the center-of-gravity position of the golf club head downward and rearward. Furthermore, the sidewall engaging portion 15 and the front sole engaging portion 15′ that firmly engage with the rear body 2 can increase the reliability of assembly between the front body 1 and the rear body 2.

Now referring to the FIGS. 4 and 5, a golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention is illustrated. In comparison with said first embodiment, the supporting member 3′ of the second embodiment further provides a rib 31, with the rib 31 extending across the crown 21 from the ribbon 22 to the face 11 and being disposed within the crown 21 of the rear body 2. Alternatively, the supporting member 3′ can still emerge from the outer surface of the rear body 2. Through said rib 31, the structural strength of the crown 21 is enhanced, so as to efficiently increase the longevity of the golf club head.

As has been discussed above, the conventional golf club head with a strength-enhanced member is made of single material and cannot effectively adjust the center-of-gravity position thereof downward and rearward. Besides, because the engagement between the striking plate and the supporting frame is merely provided by the screws and thread holes, the reliability of the conventional golf club head is low. The present invention creates the rear body 2 receiving the supporting member 3, with the rear body 2 being combined with a front body 1 to form the golf club head and the rear body 2 being made of engineering plastic. Consequently, the total weight of the golf club head is reduced; the structural strength thereof is enhanced; and the center-of-gravity position thereof is lowered. Moreover, owing to the engineering plastic making the rear body 2 as a replacement for metal, the cost of the present invention is reduced.

Although the invention has been described in detail with reference to its presently preferred embodiment, it will be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims. 

1. A golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body, comprising: a front body comprising a face and a plurality of abutting edges; a rear body comprising a crown, a ribbon and a plurality of abutting edges, with the abutting edges of the rear body being corresponding to and connecting with those of the front body to combine the rear body and the front body, with the rear body being made of a nonmetal material having a specific gravity lower than that of the front body; and at least one supporting member at least disposed at the crown of the rear body, along a border between the crown and the ribbon, or both of them, with said at least one supporting member being made of a light alloy.
 2. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 1, wherein the nonmetal material is selected from either a crystalline engineering plastic or an amorphous engineering plastic.
 3. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 2, wherein at least one of fiberglass, carbon fiber and metallic fiber is added into the nonmetal material.
 4. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 1, wherein the rear body further comprises a rear sole, with the rear body forming the crown, the ribbon and the rear sole integrally by injection molding and receiving the at least one supporting member.
 5. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 4, wherein the rear body partially receives the at least one supporting member, with the at least one supporting member emerging from an outer surface of the rear body.
 6. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 4, wherein the rear body partially receives the at least one supporting member, with the at least one supporting member being totally received within the rear body.
 7. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 1, wherein the supporting member further comprises a rib extending across the crown from the ribbon to the face of the front body and being disposed within the crown of the rear body.
 8. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 1, wherein an anodizing treatment or a surface coating treatment is applied to an outer surface of the supporting member.
 9. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 1, wherein the front body further comprises a sidewall and a neck, with the sidewall being formed by bending a perimeter of the face and extending in a direction away from the face, with the neck being provided for connecting to a shaft.
 10. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 9, wherein the face, the sidewall and the neck are integrally formed by casting, and the front body further comprises a front sole connecting to a sole portion of the sidewall by welding.
 11. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 10, wherein the front body further comprises a sidewall engaging portion and a front sole engaging portion respectively extend from edges of the sidewall and the front sole to engage with the rear body.
 12. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 11, wherein the rear body adheres to the engaging portions of the front body through an adhesive, with the adhesive being selected from a group consisting of epoxy resin, acrylic resin, polyurethane resin, neoprene rubber or elastic resin.
 13. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 10 further comprising a weight member provided on an inner surface of the front sole and away from the face of the rear body.
 14. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 1, wherein the abutting edges of the front body comprises a sidewall abutting edge and a front sole abutting edge, and the abutting edges of the rear body comprises a crown abutting edge, a ribbon abutting edge and a rear sole abutting edge, with the crown abutting edge and the ribbon abutting edge connecting to the sidewall abutting edge and the rear sole abutting edge connecting to the front sole abutting edge.
 15. The golf club head with strength-enhanced rear body as defined in claim 1, wherein the at least one supporting member is made of aluminum alloy, magnesium alloy, or titanium alloy. 